Combined counter and circuit-breaker.



W. C. KELLY.

COMBINED COUNTER AND CIRCUIT BREAKER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 24. 1914.

lllllllllllllfln A AWoms Patented May 2, 1916.

WALLACE C. KELLY, OF HASTINGS, MICHIGAN.

COMBINED COUNTER AND CIRCUIT-BREAKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Application filed January 24. 1914. Serial No. 814,099.

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that I, WALLACE C. KELLY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Hastings, in the county. of Barry and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Counters and Circuit-Breakers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in a combined counter and circuit breaker, and its object is to provide a device of this character which will be simple and effective in operation, cheap in construction, and to provide the same with various new and useful features as hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The device embodying this invention is particularly adapted to be applied to electrically driven washing machines and like devices which have either a rotary or oscillatory shaft, it being desirable to set the machine in motion and either rotate or oscillate the said shaft a certain pre-determined number of times, and to then stop the device.

This invention provides a device which successfully performs the function of counting the rotations or oscillations of the shaft, and automatically breaks the electric circuit to the driving motor when a certain number of such rotations or oscillations have been made.

The device consists essentially of a rotary' drum having a conducting band mounted. on its periphery having a non-conducting gap therein and engaged by positive and negative brushes in the motor circuit. The drum is also provided with ratchet teeth which are engaged by a pawl on a lever which is moved at each revolution or oscillation of the shaft of the machine, by a lug projecting from the said shaft, this move ment producing a step by step rotation of the drum. When both brushes engage the contact band the circuit to the motor is closed and the machine operates until the drum is sufficiently. rotated to move the gap in said band opposite one of the brushes, which breaks the electric circuit and stops the operation of the motor.

The device is provided with certain other novel features of construction and arrangement, the preferable embodiment being shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a device embodying this invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same through the axis of the rotatable drum; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of the exterior of the upper part of the device.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents the case and is preferably attached to the exterior of a washing machine or like device (not shown) in such position that the rotary or oscillatory shaft 2 of such machine will project through an opening 3 into the said case 1, the said shaft being provided with a lug la projecting radially therefrom.

l is a bearing stud extending from the back of the case 1, a bushing 5 being journaled on the said stud and provided with a ratchet wheel 6 at one end, said wheel preferably being formed integral with the bushing. A drum 7 of non-conducting material surrounds the bushing'and is attached to the ratchet disk G by means of screws 8, and the said drum is provided on its periphery with a conducting band 9, the ends of which are spaced apart as at 10 forming ,a non-conducting gap therebetween. Brushes 11 attached to the insulated top 1'2 of the case engage the periphery of the said drum and are respectively in communication with the binding posts 13, to which the positive and negative conductors 1-l of an electric circuit are connected.

A lever 15 is pivoted to the back of the case between the disk G and shaft 2, the end adjacent the disk being provided with a pawl 1G adapted to engage the ratchet teeth of the said wheel, the opposite end of the lever being in the path of the lug 2* upon the shaft. The lever is normally held in mid-position by oppositely arranged springs 17 which normally return the lever to said position, but allow it to be moved in either direction. A retaining pawl 18 engages the ratchet teeth on the wheel G and prevents return rotation of the same.

A knob 19 is mounted on the bushing 5 at its outer end and extends through the cover 1 of the case, the said knob being connected preferably by dowel pins to the drum 7, whereby the same may be manually rotated and adjusted to the desired position for starting and the knob is provided with an index or pointer 20, which registers with a dial 21 on the exterior of the cover 1l to indicate the positio. ofthe drum 7.

In operating this device, presuming it to be attached to a washing machine having a rotary shaft and an electric motor to drive the same, the operator adjusts the device for starting by rotating the drum by means of the knob 19 until the pointer 20 registers with the number on the dial 21 which indicates the desired number of revolutions to be made by the shaft 2. This operation brings both of the brushes 11 into contact with the conducting band 9 and closes the electric circuit to the motor causing it to operate and set the shaft 2 in motion. The numbers on the dial 21 are so arranged that when a number is indicated by the pointer 20 the drum 7 will be in such position that it will require exactly the number of revolutions of the shaft 2 indicated on the dial to rotate the drum step by step to the position where one of the brushes 11 will disengage the conducting band 9 and break the electric circuit. As the shaft 2 rotates, the cam 2a thereon will actuate the lever 15 causing the pawl 16 to rotate the wheel 7 step by step, preferably one tooth at each revolution of said shaft. i

In case the shaft 2 should be oscillatory instead of rotary, the cam 2a thereon will engage the lever 15 at each oscillation, but the movement will be effective only at each alternate stroke as the pawl 16 will engage the ratchet teeth on the disk (i only when moved in one direction.

I have shown a device adapted to count fifty before breaking the circuit but ob-v viously a wheel having a different number of teeth may be provided. or gearing interposed between the ratchet wheel and drum whereby the device may be adapted to count a different number of revolutions o-f the shaft 2 before breaking the circuit.

1. A counter and circuit breaker comprising a casing, a rotatable drum having a ratchet wheel fixed to one side thereof, a conducting band on the periphery of said drum, said band having a narrow non-conducting gap, positive and negative brushes engaging said peripheral band, a pointer fixedly attached to said rotatable drum and means mounted in the casing for rotating said drinn step by step.

A counter and circuit breaker comprising a casing, a shaft mounted in said casing, a rotatable drum having a ratchet wheel fixed thereto and mounted on said shaft, a conducting band on the periphery of said drum, said band having a narrow non-conducting gap, positive and negative brushes engaging said peripheral band, a pointer fixedly attached to said rotatable drum and located outside of the casing, means mounted in the casing for rotating said drum and means for preventing the rotation of the drum in a backward direction.

3. A counter and circuit breaker comprising a casing, a shaft mounted in said casing, a sleeve rotatably mounted on said shaft, an annular flange extending from said sleeve and provided with teeth on its periphery and forming a ratchet wheel, a drum mounted on said sleeve and rigidly attached to the ratchet wheel, a conducting band on the periphery of said drum and provided with a narrow non conducting gap, a second sleeve mounted on the first sleeve and attached to said drum and extending outside of the casing, a pointer extending from said second sleeve and registering with a dial on the outside of the casing and means mounted inside of the casing for rotating said ratchet wheel and thereby rotating said drum and said pointer.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

'ALLACE C. KELLY. Vitnesses MARTIN J. MCNEiL, JOHN P. KELLY. 

